Choosing Friends

The elevator doors slid open. Izzy and Nat stepped out and started to make their way down the stream.

"I wonder where the light comes from." Izzy stared into the blue sky above them.

"Wouldn't surprise me if it was a real star up there." Nat was disinterested.

Izzy continued to stare, "woah... How big is this place?"

"Not sure, but it's huge, way bigger than this. You're only in the Marketing department right now."

"What? You mean there are more floors like this, each with its own star and stuff?"

"Nah, Marketing looks like this cause of the advertising. They want everything to look nice and 'aesthetic'. IT for example, is entirely different and arguably even bigger."

"What's it like?" Izzy twirled to look at Nat.

Nat smirked, "A huge fleet of spaceships, but they're not parked in regular space, more like cyberspace."

"What! That's sick! Can we go!"

"Hmph," Nat smiled. "Now you're starting to get it, aren't you."

Izzy tilted his head.

"Mt. Victory has a lot of secrets for you to explore, I can tell you about what I know, but if you wanna see it. You're gonna have to fight for it."

He was still conflicted by the notion of violence, but maybe there was another way around it. He was so distracted by the thought of it, that he bumped into Nat, who'd already stopped ahead of him. Both of them were caught off guard by Jax, who stood in the middle of Izzy's office. He turned when he noticed them, promptly bowing and extending his hand. Above it, his contract materialised.

"You defeated me yesterday but forgot to take my contract. I've come to make sure you claim it, fair and square." His voice was surprisingly kind but clearly disciplined.

Izzy waved his hands, "oh, no, no! You can keep it, I don't need it."

"Actually, you do." Nat walked over to Jax. "Promotions in Mt. Victory are decided by how many contracts you've collected. Alongside that, each contract you collect directly increases your 'power', so to say."

"Power?" Izzy kept his eyes on Jax.

"Yeah, you know how you naturally moved and fought yesterday? That's your power. You know what, get your contract out." Nat walked over to Izzy again.

"Ummm... How do I do that?" He rummaged through his pockets.

"Hold your hand out, and think about your contract."

Izzy did as he was told, and with relatively little effort, the contract appeared. He was startled by it again.

"Let's take a look." She scrolled through his contract as if it had a touch screen. She eventually reached a section where Izzy's 'stats' were listed. Among them were things like 'Technical Skills', 'Soft Skills', and 'Team Management'.

"Oh right, I've kinda seen stuff like this before on my friend's progression plan!"

"Yeah, don't worry about them, no one actually knows how to measure them or rank them, but the sheer fact that they go up in terms of numbers means that you've gained 'power'." Nat used air quotes to signify the ridiculous nature of her statement.

Izzy looked disappointed, "huh."

"So go ahead, take his contract." Nat stood between the two of them, gesturing at his contract.

"No."

"Why?" Both Nat and Jax blurted out in unison.

"Cause you hesitated to go after me in that arena. You saw I was a mess, and you stopped." Izzy let his contract slip back into nothingness. "Keep it. And just work with me instead," he smiled warmly.

Jax stared into Izzy's eyes, searching for some sort of logic to his decision. He smiled, "thank you. It's my pleasure to work with you. Sorry about the sour introduction."

"It's fine. Assume someone told you that that's how things go around here?" Izzy walked closer.

"Nat did, actually." Jax folded his arms.

Izzy glared at Nat.

She shrugged casually in response. "What? Did you think I was your personal assistant or something? I'm an assistant talent manager. I get graded on how many promising employees I help foster."

"Ugh, why does no one want to work together? You're all in the same company." Izzy walked to his desk.

"It's easily changed if you know how." Nat tempted him.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it, one step at a time. First, I'm gonna work out just how good you two are." She circled the room, coming to a rest at one of the cherry blossoms.

"You're goning to make us fight?" Jax glanced over to Izzy. "We already know the outcome."

"Nope, you're both going to fight me," and with a click of her fingers, the entirety of their surroundings changed. The swap was instant. The fantasy-like rural land they'd been standing in was replaced with a medium-sized dome. The walls were thick heavy-duty glass, granting vision into a seemingly pitch black outside. A black more akin to void rather than nighttime. The floor was steel, with beams making their way to the top of the room, reinforcing the glass that surrounded them. There were no doors, no exits, no features beyond the steel panels and bolts that held the place together.

"Where are we?" Izzy whispered before receiving a daunting answer. Two sets of endless teeth passed over the top of the dome on the outside. Izzy could only just make out the shape of a fin signalling the end of the silhouette. Whatever it was, it was bigger than a commercial airliner.

"How far down are we?" Jax watched the fin fade back into nothingness.

Nat unbuttoned her suit jacket, "I can promise you that that question is pretty much pointless. I humbly welcome you to one of my offices: 'The Hull Breaker'." She threw the jacket away with a flourish, revealing a white waistcoat with more of the dark blue tinges of blue around its side and back.

Izzy and Jax exchanged an anxious look. Izzy pulled his fists up to guard his face, unsure of how a real fighter should stand. With a flick, three kunai appeared in Jax's hand, which he readied with a more proper battle pose.

"I won't use this place for its intended purpose, but it should stop anyone from interrupting us." She cracked her knuckles. "Alright. This should be fun." She could barely hide her cruel excitement for the experiment.

All three waited in anticipation, unsure of who should instigate the fight.

Jax was the first to move, dashing off to the side to look for the perfect lineup for his first strike. Izzy panicked, unsure of what he should've been doing. So he made the split-second decision to try and close the distance between him and Nat, keeping a careful eye on Jax's movements.

Nat didn't move and merely lifted her left hand.